New-icus Blog-icus

Long time, no post. I'm pretty bad at this, but thought I'd give it one more go at actually updating. So this may be first of many, or last.

    I'm playing 3 games right now, so I thought I'd just go through them and tell you what I think. Got a problem with that? Good.

So 3DS. I just actually finished the main campaign of Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Uprising is the first Kid Icarus game in many years, since as far back as KI: Of Myths and Monsters on the original Gameboy. Obviously, with so much time passing, the game is very different from the originals, yet does an amazing job of keeping the aesthetic and soul of the original.

    
Gameplay wise, each level in Uprising (with a couple exceptions) is split into two styles. Each level opens with a flight segment, which plays out like Star Fox meets Sin and Punishment. Pit flies "on rails", his flight path set out by the Goddess of Light Palutena, and you simply use a combination of the stylus on the touch screen to control your aiming reticule, and the circle pad to control Pit's movement on the screen to dodge incoming fire. The result is an incredibly tight and cinematic experience, which really is what sets these segments apart from most shooters. The combination of terrific writing, amazingly well orchestrated music, and tense situations all being able to be "directed" by the flight path, make these segments feel hectic, intense, yet controlled and always serving the (kinda silly) story.

Bad dog!

 
  The second half of each level is ground based, third person, adventure. These are the segments that caused the most controversy, due to a very unusual control scheme. forward/back and strafe movement are all controlled by the circle pad, but turning is done using the stylus. By swiping back and forth along the bottom screen, you turn the world around Pit more than turning him, most commonly compared to spinning a globe. It's an odd choice for sure, but I personally found it pretty easy to get used to, and a few missions in, I pretty much never thought about it again, just did it. It can cause a few problems in some later levels when precise platforming is needed, which this scheme does not do well.

     
 Finally, what I found most addicting and what really turned this game into one of may favorites for the 3DS is the HUGE list of weapons and powers that can be unlocked and customized throughout the game. There are 10 classes of weapons (from palms and claws, to bows and cannons) that each have many variations. Each of these weapons can then be augments with countless stat boosters and attributes, making for nearly limitless customization and experimentation. I found myself, more often just fusing weapons, playing levels to unlock more, and grinding for hearts (Uprising's currency) to purchase new ones. It's a seriously addictive and ever changing system, that can make every small change you make translate into an entirely different experience.
      There is much more I could talk about with Uprising, such as the Intensity system for difficulty setting, the cool but ultimately pointless AR cards, and the very well implemented and unique multiplayer options, but I've gone on long enough, and you can find some much more comprehensive reviews here and here.
I'll just say, the Uprising did one thing for me very well, and that is surprised me. I had little interest in it when it came out, and bought it used on the cheaps, hoping for just some simple shooty entertainment. But from the clever and sometimes outright hilarious dialogue ( there are many 4th wall breaking moments and one Metroid inspired one toward the end of the game had me laughing out loud) to the sheer addictiveness of the previously mentioned weapon system, I found myself pouring over 30 hours into the game before finally finishing the main story. It's been a long time since I've gone into a game with little expectation and been so thoroughly impressed and entertained. Uprising is easily one of the best games for the 3DS released this year, if not one of the best in the entire 3DS library. Don't let any complaints about the controls sway you. If you own a 3DS this isn't just a great game, it's a must own. Period. Buy it or I'll turn you into an eggplant.

You've been warned.

Okay, plan is tomorrow I talk about the second game I'm currently playing Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii. The much talked about Project Rainfall game that so far I have put 58 hours into, and I'm pretty sure I'm nowhere near the end.

10 and 6/3

Yeah. I said I'd do it, so here we go. New blog stuff, just video games, really just what I'm playing now, what I think of it, and maybe some musings on news and stuff. Let's go!

Kirby Mass Attack - DS

I love the little pink puffball. Always have. Kirby's Dreamland 2 on the original Gameboy was always one of my all time favorite portable titles. The newest title in the Kirby series is Kirby Mass Attack on DS, not 3DS, just DS.
The premise of the game is an evil sorcerer invades the planet PopStar where Kirby is just chillin. The Sorcerer uses his magic to divide Kirby, and his power, into 10 mini-Kirbys, so they can be easily defeated. However, one mini-Kirby escapes and through the power of his "true heart" and some apparently magic fruit, begins a quest to recollect the other 9 mini-Kirbys and defeat the sorcerer.

Gameplay wise, this game is a very refreshing, if sometimes a little clunky, take on 2-d platforming. First of all, this game is 99% stylus controlled. Tapping on the screen makes your Kirbys scramble to that mark, or attack whatever enemy or device you pointed to. Think 2-D Pikmin. Touching and flicking a Kirby sends him flying in that direction, and holding the stylus down makes all the Kirbys gather and float along a drawn line, similar to Kirby Canvas Curse. The input style, and play control open up many interesting puzzles and strategies, from knowing when to divide your Kirby to attack large groups, send all 10 of them to pound a big enemy, or leave a few behind to heal others if they get damaged (they do this by basically hugging the floating ghost of a "KO'D" pal). Unfortunately, the controls can also be a bit clunky, especially when trying to direct your team to run to the far side of the screen, I continually find myself accidentally gathering them all or leaving one behind that is stuck behind a piece of the environment.

My biggest surprise, and favorite part so far of Mass Attack is the awesome mini-game selection. There are 3-6 secret medals hidden in each level of the regular game. Finding more medals unlocks new content in the "extras" menu. Some of these are simple things like Sound Test, Movies, and Whack-a-mole, but a couple are absolute joys and almost full games to themselves. My favorite 2 are Kirby E.O.S. ( no idea what that stands for) which is a vertical shooter, where you again collect up to 10 Kirbys, but are flying and blasting enemies with stars in a bullet-hell type fashion! Second, is Kirby Ball Brawl, which is a pinball game featuring boss battles, tons of cameos, and ridiculous replay value. From beating all 4 bosses (I still have only managed 3) to getting the high-score, I find myself playing this mode, almost more than the main game!



Overall, I'm am 100% satisfied with what Mass Attack has to offer. Ton's of content, ton's of cuteness, and an actual challenge, that keeps me wanting to open the DS and play. Highly recommended.


Final Fantasy 3/6

I won't go on too much about this game, since most everyone has played it and experienced it's wonder and badassitude (if you haven't...why are we friends again?) I picked this up on Virtual Console after listening to the guys on my favorite podcast, RadioFreeNintendo, talking about it. It had been many years since I played this game last, and it was on the almost unplayable PS1 collection (with the horridly long load times). So for only $8 I bought what I've always said is one of the top 3 games of all time. Replaying it now is every bit as fun as the first times, and also a real challenge, as I'm trying a few things differently this time. First, I'm going by memory, no FAQs. Second is I'm trying to use some characters I used to skip out on a lot more. Gau was always confusing to me, his rage's always seemed random and underpowered....man was I stupid. Easily my new favorite character, you really just have to spend time with him, and learn which rage to use in which situation. In his first trip on the Veldt, you can learn the Templar rage, which almost always casts Fire 2, long before anyone else can get it, and for no MP cost. Very cool. I've also been trying to use Locke's stealing more, to find some items and use some tricks I'd always heard about, but never had the patience to deal with. I just got Setzer (and the airship), so I'll be adding him to my little group, along with Terra. we'll see how it plays out. I feel weird not just spamming Chainsaw and Fire Dance in every battle like I used to, but it also makes this play-through almost feel like a whole new game.

Well I guess that's it. Zelda 4-Sword Anniversary comes out tomorrow (FREE!) on 3DS/DSi E-shop, so expect some impressions of that, especially if I can get together with Heath and hit up some multilayer this week. Thanks for reading (or attempting to).

CROSSBONES!

Long time since a post. Had to go to Denver for some work conference thing. Nice trip I guess, got me out of the store for a bit so that's cool, but I'd rather be home with the Wife and the bird ya know?

Anyway the title of this post relates to a topic I've been think about posting about since before I started this thing. Pirates. Not the cool kind with the wooden leg and the parrot, but the online variety. Yes online piracy has been big news lately, due to the recent conviction of The Pirate Bay 4. The Pirate Bay is a bit-torrent tracking site that allowed users to search and find torrent downloads for all sorts of thing, but mainly got known for illegal, bootleg movies, like the new X-men: Wolverine that was released illegaly online weeks before the official premire and long before it hits regular theatres.

Away from movies for a second, as a musician(sorta), piracy effect us in very noticable ways, sometimes for good and other for bad. So here it is. I'm firmly 100% totally against online piracy in all forms. Take that!

So there are a few excuses given by the pirates for why they feel they are not doing anything wrong. The first and most used is that the music is there, so why not. Pretty simple yes, but also incredibly juvinille and stupid. The reason is that since these sights exsist and the media is there ready to be downloaded, why shouldn't they. They probably won't get caught and if they do, slap on the wrist and right back too it. So what's stopping them right? As of right now, not much. The RIAA and other media groups are lobbying for stricter punishments, but honestly the size and scope of the piracy so big they're right, they probably won't ever get caught. This excuse is slippery because it can start to be applied to everything, digital or physical. Go to the grocery store, pocket a pack of gum. Will you get caught? Probably not. If you do, will you be arrested and convicted? Probably not. Does that mean all gum should be free because it's easily steal-able? Hell no!

The second (and weirdest to me) excuse is that somehow these pirates hav a god given right to this pirated media. Somehow it has gotten into some peoples heads that music and movies cannot really be "owned" and that once it's made it's become a part of the fabric of the world and belongs to everyone. Don't ask how they rationalize this, because I've honstly heard a good explanation of this belife. I assume most people are like me (rational), and feel that when something like music, art, or ideas are created by a person or people, they belong to those people. The free exchange of ideas is certainly a large part of what made the 20th century so fast moving and productive. But the free exchange of music, movies, writting, and thought should be VOLUNTARY. I belive that is the actual God given right. If I sculpt a statue in my apartment, it's mine. Music and movies are art in the exact same way, whether physically in cd/dvd/film form or purly digital. You don't have a RIGHT to them.

The last excuse, and certainly my primary reason for opposing piracy, is that the record and movies execs., actors, bands, etc. are rich enough. They aren't being hurt by piracy. This excuse is oddly pretty accurate. I don't belive that any CEO's, bands, or Hugh Jackman are losing anything to piracy. The problem is, that somebody is on the losing side of this. Those people are the truly "hardest working people in showbiz". The pages, assistants, folly artist, tour drivers, roadies, stun people, and the other masses of talented people involved in th making, marketing and production of every piece of pirated material. Not to mention the guys and girls at your local record stores, the kids working the concession counters at you theatre, and the independant film makers and musicians who see a very real effect on their paychecks. This is inexcusable. These are people who work 40-80 hour weeks, trying to make livings for themselves and families that are losing jobs and wages, becuase some backwards ass dudes on the interweb, can't wait an extra week to see Woverine, or just can't bring themselves to go all the way over to...A DIFFERNT WEBSITE, and just pay a buck for the new Kanye tune legaly.

Piracy is nothing more than laziness, cheapness, ignorance, and a dash of self dilusion. There is no reason to steal anything online, ever. If band or indie film maker wants to freely distribute their hard work, than that should be their right. At the same time, if they don't, no one should be allowed to take it from them.

There is so much more to this topic but it's just too long and rediculous to spend more time talking about it. If anyone ever reads this thing, just please pay for what you want, support the little guys who make it happen, and don't play with guns.

YA!

The Dan

Birthday is a doodly-doo!

It was my birthday today. Things happened, I got older, I got a sweet velvet jacket, and ate some stuff. Awesome.

Stephi is making fun of the blog...she's just mad I don't write about her exclusivly.
So here it is:

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, YOUR STEPHANIE CLARK UPDATE!

Her leg itches.

THIS HAS BEEN A STEPHI CLARK UPDATE!

Woo! Ok so on to the other stuff.
Best sock based t.v. show ever? SIFL AND OLLY SHOW! I've been watching random clips on youtube all week and god I miss that show. If you are unfamiliar (Dad) the show was on MTV about 10ish years ago. It is the most simple show, as it involvs just sock puppets in front of a green screen. It's basically a variety show, with interviews, calls from the public (calls calls calls...calls *BONK*), the funniest mock infomercials ever (WHERE ARE ALL THE CORPSES?) and of course some incredibly funny and suprisingly catchy, memorable songs. Did I mention it's all sock puppets? Yeah. One of the dudes behind the show, Liam Lynch, also released a great album a few years back, featuring the hit "United States of Whatever" and had a song with Ringo Starr playing drums. Yeah...RINGO. Anyway, in the general vein of MTV being a bunch of ass-clowns, the show has never been released on DVD and was cancelled after only 2 seasons (supposedly because they weren't willing to put more money into the show, which only cost them like 8 bucks to begin with and I'm sure made them tons). Luckily those youtube ninjas keep it up and rotating around fairly consistanly. So check it out HERE and thank me later. Thank me in cereal...or fake blood.

Crecsent Fresh

The Dan

New and Used

YO!

So there's this "controversy" going around online in gamer circles, and has been for ever. It's basically gamers finding out the Gamestop (and really just about every other game retailer) opens copies of games to put out on display, but will (GASP) sell those games if it's the last copy as new. OUTRAGE!
I worked for EB about 5 years ago and yeah, we did that. It's what we had to do! When shipments of new games arrive, the publishers don't have the money to make special demo copies for every retailer in the world, so GS is forced to either "gut" a copy for display or put live merchandise out on the floor where any punk can come steal it.

Now, there's only one copy left you say? And it's the one whose box is on display? YAY! Buy it. Really, I as a life long gamer can not understand what the big deal is. Does the game work? Is the box and manual all there? If it's broken can I get it replaced? Yes to all three! It's new!

The weird gamers online seem to think that a game that is opened from it's magical factory shrink wrap is like a new car and should lose value the second it's opened. I don't. I guess it comes down to a problem consumers have in general, not just with video games. American consumers cannot seem to see that everything has a value. The good stuff the bad stuff the stupid stuff, it all has value. If a product is on the market at large and is being bought and sold from distributors, stores, and fellow consumers, it has a value attached to it. Unfortunately many consumers refuse to see the true market value and feel like they somehow know better what a product should be "worth". I think this mostly comes down to people wanting things they can't afford, but feel they deserve. So instead of saving their money up, working a little harder, or just waiting for the market to naturally go down a bit, they think the value should be lowered automatically to fit their budget and desires.

I want a motorcycle, but I only want to pay $57. If my local dealership will not cave to my desires, than they are performing terrible customer service and have lost me as a customer forever! (major sarcasm here, ya dig.)

I guess all I'm saying is that I try to look at products and services based on their VALUE. Are things overpriced? Hell yeah...for me. But there are others out there who see VALUE in what I think is overpriced and are perfectly willing to pay that price, just as I am free to not. Capitalism and consumerism aren't stupid concepts, there are just alot of stupid capitalist and consumers out there. OH WELL! I'm going to Starbucks!

SEEYABYE!

DSi post!

I'm writing this post on my new DSi!
So far it's great! Cameras work well and are really fun to play around with.
The sound capture is way to much fun and I'm sure I'll find ways to cause trouble!
The free web browser is pretty damn fast for mobile internet. I dare say it is faster and designed better than the ipod/iphone browser.
I'll write again soon on the real computer soon.
For now I think I have a new best friend!

Privat Idaho and Elvis Costello

So we got the digital cable when we moved in recently, and I've been addicted to those music channels you get. You know the ones that just play music and have pictures and little facts? Well the one I watch the most is Retro-Active, which is all 80's pop music. They play a lot of Elvis Costello on it. I admit to never have really listened to any of his stuff. The more I hear these songs however, I find his brand of strong lyrics mixed with fairly up-beat, fun music is just the kinda thing I'm into. I love that "Peace, Love, and Understanding" song, and everything else I've hard seems interesting enough. I guess I'll have to go find a greatest hits comp or something to flesh out my knowledge of his stuff. I'm just saying, this could be my next big faze in music.

The other half of the title refers to one of the most irreverent yet totally awesome bands EVER. The B-52's. Another huge band oddly coming from Athens, Georgia (along with R.E.M. and some new hip band I can't remember right now) they have probably one of the most un-imitatable sounds in rock. Not that you can't imitate Fred Schneider's voice pretty easily (my old lead vocalist Greg does a fantastic Fred!), but no band could ever pull off the insane sounds these guys did and get away with it. I used to really not like the 52's, but after Greg and some other friends started a B-52's cover band and I was forced to hear them a lot, they really grew on me. I can certainly understands someones distaste for them, but to me it's pure, unbridled silliness and fun. Private Idaho is a great song (and rhymes with Costello...sorta) but my easy favorite B-52's song is the ever popular "Rock Lobster"! I guess I also like them for their totally bitch'n cameo in the first Flinstones movie!

Just don't ever make me hear "love shack" ever again...I hate that song....reminds me of high school dances. Ug.

Alright, off to do some work stuff before work (doesn't that suck).
Laters

The Dan

One Hit Wonderful

I'm watching VH1's top one hit wonders of the 80's and let me tell you...AWESOME! I still think I was born about 15 years too late for all the late 70's and 80's music that actually interest me. Sigh...

Anyway, second day of the blog and it looks like my Dad is reading it so there's that! Hi Dad! I think some of my friends may be confused as to why I have a blog. It's just that I like the social aspect of online posting, but I can't stand how the big sites are setup. Myspace is full of ad's for bad music and movies, and Facebook is just too damned cluttered for me to focus and actually get out thoughts. So I thought just straight writing would work better for me. So that's why I'm doing this. Gotta problem with it? That's what I thought!

The Nintendo DSi comes out Sunday and I couldn't be more happy to be getting one. I never got a DS Light so I'm still currently using the old brick style. The addition of camera's and music support is just icing compared to the (from what I hear vastly) improved sound and screens. Plus It gives me the opportunity to pass my old DS onto a friend who has not had the good fortune to have one. My only concern is, with my recent addition of an Ipod touch, I now will have at least 2 web-browsing devices on me at all times. Who needs this much access to the inter-web. I think pretty soon we'll start adding Wi-fi web browsing to our toasters and shoes! The drawback is a dumb-ed down web experience. Honestly none of the portable web-browsing devices I've used (iPhone/Pod, smart phones, PSP, etc....) can really handle everything the web offers well. They are all much slower and constrained than even my other 6 year old computer with Broadband. Maybe in another few years the technology will catch up, but for now beside reading emails and doing quick google searches, I would much rather do all my serious interneting on the real computers.

Send Stephi your good vibes! She's at a job interview right now!

And I'm gone.

The Dan

It's Grand!

So now some music stuff.
I just got into this band Matt and Kim from NY. I'm pretty enamoured with it to say the least. The sound basically consists of loops and synth sounds from Matt, drums and beats from Kim, vocals from both, and healthy injection of clapping and stomping (my favorite part!). Their new album Grand is short, fun, and easy to just dance around to on my way to work everyday. None of the stuff is too complex or deep, it's just fun and upbeat without being too pretentious or "indie" (I'm looking at you MGMT). I recommend Matt and Kim greatly.

check out their video for the opening track on Grand -"Daylight"

I've also been listening to The Who a lot lately. Mostly because I'm reading a biography of Keith Moon (crazy, alcoholic, drumming god) and wanted to flesh out my knowledge of the bands catalogue. I picked up a extended version of Who's next that has a some great unreleased tracks on it, but I really need to pick up "Tommy" since I admit to not ever really listening to the rock opera from start to finish. So I'll let you know how that goes.

Well I guess that's enough for my first day of blogging. Hope I actually keep this up! Later.

The Dan

Hello world!

Hey!
So this is a blog. I'm not sure how to start it. If anyone doesn't know me, I'm Dan. I have an awesome wife named Stephi, and a bird named Mr. Jones. I'll pretty much just be writing about fun things like video games and music, with a smattering of other topics if I feel like it. Nothing too deep though because, well I don't want to! So here we go!

I love Nintendo. There I said it. I know and care way too much about Nintendo not to talk about it constantly. Why you ask? Well honestly it's because Nintendo systems tend to have more of the types of games I enjoy. I appreciate what the 360 and PS3 bring to the table, and admit some jealousy of some games available on those systems but not on Nintendo's, but not enough to own them. I don't think you have to hate on the other systems to be a fanboy. I don't enjoy online play, I'm not a FPS fan, and generally play one game at a time, so why do I need 3 systems to fill up my gaming time? Nintendo tends towards adventure and platform games, innovative and just plain out there games, and that's what I'm looking for!

Currently I'm playing Madworld on Wii. It's good. I like it a lot, but my like for it is waining. The overall mechanics of running around and killing enemies in some of the most inventive and over-the-top ways is very satisfying, but ultimately gets a bit repetitive and is not really needed. The point of the game is to do enough damage to earn more points to unlock later parts of the stage. Unfortunately it's just as easy to just chop everyone up with your Chainsaw and get points as it is to use all the random weapons around each level, and much faster. So the main feature of the game begins to feel more like a perk than something needed and boils the game down to a pretty standard, albeit incredibly stylish and funny, beat-em up. The fact that it's only about 6-8 hours long is also a bit of a drag. I'll finish it, but probably won't go back to it anytime soon. The biggest disappointment? Madworld was created by ex-members of Clover studio's (now Platinum Games) who are responsible for one of my all time favorite adventures Okami! And while Madworld is good, it doesn't hold a candle to the beauty, story, and sheer enjoyability of Okami. I give it a score of 3 out of 5 chainsaws.